Revisiting The Concepts Of Deceptive Similarity

Deceptive similarity of marks is commonly argued by attorneys in the cases of trademark infringement and/or passing off. Deceptive similarity is a very broad term and includes phonetic similarity, visual similarity and conceptual similarity but, these are not the only factors that need to be taken into consideration while deciding cases of trademark infringement/passing off.

In the case of International Foodstuffs Co. v Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. the Plaintiff was the registered owner of the mark 'London Dairy' used for only for ice-creams. The Plaintiff sued the Defendant alleging that it had adopted a deceptively similar mark 'Londonderry' for candies. The Plaintiff's Advocate argued that there was phonetic similarity between the two marks and that both the marks were being used in relation to goods specified in class 30 therefore, increasing the likelihood of confusion in the minds of the public and infringing the Plaintiff's statutory right over its mark 'London